The Raven Lilly
by dragonsfae
Summary: Harry gets to go back in time to try to fix his biggest mistake, of course that means he has to figure out exactly what that mistake is and why it happened first. Hermione gets dragged along for the ride and she's NOT happy about that. Soul Bond fic
1. Chapter 1

The Raven Lilly

Summary: Harry gets to go back in time to try to fix his biggest mistake, of course that means he has to figure out exactly what that mistake is and why it happened first. Hermione gets dragged along for the ride and she's NOT happy about that. Contains a soul bond.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything your recognize

A/N the story WILL be H/HR there IS mention of H/SB/HA/LL/GW/DG to begin with… bear with me it WILL get there

Harry looked around the courtyard, watching people bringing in more and more wounded and dead. "I should have just gone." He whispered. "I should have just given myself up!"

"No!"

Harry turned around to see his wives standing there. Susan had her arms around Hannah, while Luna dreamily supported Ginny. Daphne looked sadly up from where they had been huddled. They did make a love picture. Harry waited on one of them to say something else. Anything else. A harsh sigh came from behind him and Harry turned quickly wand in hand only to find his friend Hermione there.

"Use your head Harry, Tom wants to kill every 'half-blood', 'mud-blood', and 'blood-traitor' there is. He's a homicidal maniac! They don't just say 'well you gave yourself up so OK! Everyone else can live in peace and harmony; we would now have utopia cus your gone.'" Hermione gave another of those disgusted sighs. "So please get over it. You're our best shot at winning this thing-"

"Honestly Hermione! He doesn't need help reading big boring books right now so run along. He needs some tenderness…" Ginny had apparently had enough of whatever Hermione was saying and decided to step away from Luna. She sauntered up to Harry wrapping her arms around him from behind running her hands down his chest slowly to his thighs.

Harry enjoyed the caress but felt the new familiar disgust and shame that almost always accompanied any intimate touch of his lovely ladies. Harry felt his other wives join Ginny in wrapping themselves around him. He looked back at Hermione only to see her shake her head sadly and walks away. They were running out of time, Voldemort had given him only an hour to surrender himself before the battle began again. Everyone was using this time to say good-bye to their loved ones that were near. Harry didn't say anything to his wives just stood there as they held him while Hermione walked away.

One hour isn't a lot of time to say good-bye, but 20 minutes later found Hermione standing by the door ready to out to battle once more. Harry joined her as they walked out to the middle of the grounds between the forest and the castle. "Hermione, I just want to say…" Harry trailed off. There was so much he wanted to tell her; but he couldn't find a way to say anything at all.

"It's ok Harry." Hermione whispered. He knew without looking she was crying. His mind raced back to all the other times he heard her say that in that tone of voice. After nightmares, Sirius's death, the anniversary of his parent's death, when Ron died, when Voldemort attacked someone, after occulomancy classes, the night before the first task of the tri-wiz, when Cedric died. The list seemed endless.

Voldemort was waiting on them. So they walked quietly the rest of the way to where Hagrid's hut once stood. The Dark Lord of the Wizarding World stood silently waiting with his two most beloved minions beside him. "I'm surprised you showed up Potter."

"How could I not? You said you would kill everyone in the castle if I wasn't here. So, I'm here."

Harry stared at the reptilian-like man who was responsible for so much tragedy. He glanced over to Bellatrix Lestrange only to find her wand pointed at him while noticing idly that Hermione had her wand pinned on the former Black. Movement caused his eyes to snap to Lucius Malfoy. Lucius was holding a knife out to Harry hilt first. He quickly looked back at Voldemort.

"You want to save those in the castle Potter? I want to see you in pain before you die. I will let them live but you must do something for me first." Harry blinked rapidly knowing he would give just about anything to save his family.

"Kill the mud-blood." With that Lucius had apparently gotten tired of waiting on him to accept the knife, and shoved it into his hands. He looked down at the silver knife in his hand. Then he looked over at his best friend, REALLY looked at her for the first time in years, and was astounded.

She had always been lovely; but here in the afternoon sunlight surrounded by the blood-soaked grass she was stunning. Her hair whipped in the wind as it escaped the pins holding it in some kind of knot; she was dressed in dark leather looking pants and a black tank top. He vaguely recalled her having a jacket earlier that she pressed into the wounds of Neville. Her skin was very pale, though there were little swipes of blood here and there showing she had fought bravely earlier. She had fought while his family stayed back in the castle. Her eyes though, were the biggest change. When he had last looked at her like this, honestly looked to see what was really there, she had been walking down the staircase to the Yule ball. She had looked lovely, but her eyes were sad. They had made her look far older than she was always but now, now they were dead. He couldn't find one bit of emotion in her lovely brown eyes.

Could he do it? Could he kill his best friend? "Hermione" he whispered, "Ginny and Daphne are pregnant."

She lowered her wand and turned towards him, her pale lips slightly sneering. "Of course they are." She placed her wand in the holster she wore around her thigh and slowly brought out a necklace from where it had been hidden by her top. She then took off her bracelet it was a large intricate silver thing he hadn't seen her without. She looked at him and over to Voldemort and back again. Drawing her wand she stepped two steps closer to Voldemort before Bellatrix and Lucius stopped her.

"It's a time honored custom to allow those about to die one last request." She stood there regally ignoring the wands at her chest and throat, eyes trained at the Dark Lord.

"That it is, what would you like mud-blood? A last meal perhaps, maybe a blind-fold?" Ignoring the snickering of the minions who still had their wands digging into her skin she reached out her hand before her. Idly Harry thought she looked like a queen addressing her subjects rather than a woman about to be murdered facing terrorists.

"I ask only that you deliver these to my god-father. You wouldn't of course have to see him; an owl will do. Just insure that none will kill the poor creature till its delivery has been made." Voldemort had reached out and she dropped her necklace and bracelet in his hand. He slowly looked at each piece, lifting the bracelet up and bringing it close to his face before he looked at her necklace. The silvery pendant she always wore was thoroughly inspected before he looked back at her sharply.

"Where did you get these?" Voldemort hissed lowly.

"They are mine by right of blood, and heritage. The bracelet came to me through my father's family. His mother's grand-mother was the last to wear it. The necklace is from my god-father. As the 7th in line it is my right to wear the crest." Harry was puzzled. He looked from Hermione to Voldemort and then to Bellatrix and Lucius. Obviously the only ones who had any clue what they were talking about were Hermione and Voldemort.

"They came by the bracelet honestly?"

"Yes passed down throughout the years. I double checked with the correct spells as I'm certain you will before it's sent anywhere." Strangely enough Hermione was still talking with the Dark Lord like he was beneath her and he was taking it. Harry wondered if this is what it felt like to go crazy.

"Is there any way I can offer you to join us?" Voldemort asked in a soft tone as he stared down at the ground. Bellatrix and Lucius both dropped their wands and whirled to their master. Harry's jaw dropped. They all saw Hermione smile at him sadly.

"No, THIS is what it's like to go crazy." Harry whispered. He was even more shocked when both Bellatrix and Lucius nodded.

"You know I would never. All I ask is prompt delivery for those left waiting on me." Hermione softly told him.

"If I after checking these items out, which will be done within days after your death, I find that they are yours by right they will be delivered post haste. I shall send someone with orders to hand them over only to your next of kin and to return quickly to my side harming none on their way. Would that be enough?" Voldemort looked up at Hermione, his eyes boring into hers as his dark robes seeming to cling to him in the wind.

"Doing thus would be sufficient to honor my request; it would allow me to die with peace of mind. Should you carry out my request as you have stated my house will avenge me upon you and yours, so mote it be!" Hermione nodded at the Dark Lord one more time and stepped back to Harry. "If you're going to do this, do it."

Harry looked around still finding Bellatrix and Lucius staring at their Lord while seeing Voldemort's eyes staring at Hermione. He looked down at the knife before he lifted it up.

"Potter!" Voldemort called. "Move the blade over about an inch. That will let it hit her heart. Make your aim true, and don't let her linger." Harry looked back and forth between Hermione and Voldemort. Hermione didn't look away though she stared at him. He adjusted his blade.

"I'm sorry Hermione." He whispered as he started to cry.

She smiled sadly. "You always are Harry." He raised his hand back and quickly lowered it. Stabbing her through her chest just a bit left of her heart. As she started to fall to the ground he wrapped an arm around her lowering her softly. Thunder cracked as it started to rain. Harry sat there holding Hermione. She smiled at him raised her hand and touched his face. "If you live through this Harry I want you to learn to aim."

He held her feeling the tightness in his chest grow. It expanded till he couldn't breathe. He gurgled blood not noticing the others who stood there watching. Bellatrix and Lucius both had turned to insure that Harry did indeed kill her. Voldemort closed his eyes tightly his hands clenching the jewelry Hermione had given him.

"Well done Milady. Rest now." Harry couldn't really tell but he thought that it had been Voldemort talking. He looked at his friend one more rather than the hand he had brought up to his mouth which he had drawn back with blood on it.

"I'm sorry." He whispered once again and then all he saw was darkness.


	2. death

Chapter 1

When Harry next opened his eyes he was seated in a pale room. It appeared to be a waiting room. As he looked around at the people who sitting there he saw Hermione. She was seated on a dark grey couch reading a heavy tome. Harry stood to go over to her when he saw a young blonde greet her. The blonde must have beckoned her for she quickly put her book down and followed the blonde out of the room.

Harry sat down rather annoyed that Hermione hadn't noticed him. He wondered about that dream he had the night before. He could never imagine killing her. She was his best friend; now that Ron had died. He wondered why it was that Voldemort had seemed so respectful of her after she had given him her jewelry.

Come to that why had she given her jewelry to him to begin with? After all Harry was her best friend shouldn't he be the one who had to give away her personal effects? He thought about her bracelet and remembered how much Ginny had wanted one just like it. He should ask her when she got back. He still had no clue what was on that necklace. She had worn that necklace and bracelet science he had known her and he still had no idea what the pendant was or what the design on the bracelet was supposed to be.

"Mr. Potter? Mr. Harry Potter?" the young blonde who had spoken with Hermione before asked softly. No wonder he couldn't hear her before if she always spoke like this.

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter." Harry was annoyed that his musings had been interrupted and apparently hadn't been paying much attention to her.

"Mr. Potter! This way please." The blonde was still speaking softly but there was a touch of steel to her voice now. Harry stood and followed her thru the door he had seen earlier. Hermione must have noticed him and asked for him to join her. That had to be it! She must not have wanted to make a scene before in the waiting room knowing how much he hated them.

The blonde was now standing next to an open door frowning visibly. She must have been talking again. He had zoned out and missed everything she had said on the walk.

"Please wait in here Mr. Potter. Someone will be with you shortly." She said as he walked thru the door. As he heard the door shut he looked around the room. The walls were bare and there were 3 seats set to face one wall. He sat down in the center one wondering when they would bring Hermione in. she must know what was going here, and where here was exactly.

Daphne had told him time and time again that he must always appear to be in control of the situation even when he knew that wasn't the truth. Harry hoped when he told her all about this later on that she would be proud of him. Hmm. In that dream he had last night Daphne was pregnant. Perhaps he should see if any of his wives were ready for children? There were five of them so odds were that one of them would be.

A dark haired woman wearing an iridescent gown slipped into the room carrying a rather large file folder. "Harry Potter, we meet at last." Harry nearly fell off his stool as he spun around to watch the woman who just entered the room.

"I see discussion shall have to wait looks like the shows about to begin." She leaned forward and touched a crystal that he had failed to notice hanging on the wall and it shimmered before becoming clear. It reminded Harry of a rather advanced version of a police window in those cop dramas Uncle Vernon was always watching. The window looked into a room with a conference table in the center. Seated at the head of the table where she could see the door was Hermione. He wondered if she was in trouble with the law before quickly dismissing the notion. She had been busy researching things for the war effort and brewing the potions they needed for the hospital wing and helping train the troops and couldn't have found time to get in trouble even if she had been so inclined. He had barely had time to spend enough quality time with his wives to ensure he wasn't nagged half to death and back again.

Harry was brought out of his thoughts again by the door in Hermione's room bursting open. Someone had ran and tried to tackle Hermione. Harry winced, that wouldn't go over well. Hermione wasn't the touchy-feely sort of person with anyone else but Harry. It was actually a matter of pride that he was one of the few people she touched casually.

As he watched the dark haired man who had ran at Hermione was knock on the floor a few feet from her. Her foot was now resting on his neck before Harry had even seen her move. Ah well, nothing new there. She was always crazy fast when you interrupted her reading.

"Sirius?" Hermione sounded convinced it was Sirius. Poor girl she must have been over doing it. He should see if someone would be able to take over for her for a day or two so she could rest. Everyone knew Sirius had died years ago. She had stepped back to the wall to allow the man to get up. As soon as he did he swept her into a hug that she didn't seem to be fighting to get out of. Harry stood annoyed that Hermione was hugging some guy thinking it was Sirius and the man had the nerve to allow her to.

"Hermione, Sweetie, I'm glad to see you. I'm just not glad to see you right now. Ya know? Do you know where you are Hun?" the man was trying to help her sit but she wasn't letting him clinging to him like a vine. Harry's annoyance was growing.

"Of course I do Sirius. I'm dead. So this must be the afterlife or the way into it. Didn't really expect an office building or conference room but I clearly recall dyeing. After all who can forget being stabbed in the chest by Harry?"

Harry's jaw dropped open. She thought she was dead? No wonder she didn't say anything to that Sirius look-a-like! Poor Hermione! He stood to go to her when the brunette beside of him put her hand on his shoulder and shoved him back down. "Oh no you don't Potter! There's a lot left for you to learn from this. So for now you're stuck watching! FYI she's NOT delusional. She's dead. BIG difference. Of course you probably don't even realize your dead too which is how you can be sitting here watching her meet with a few people. So unless you are going to say something intelligent or interesting hush!" Harry just gaped at the woman. He couldn't believe she thought he was dead and THIS was the afterlife. The woman had apparently had enough of his staring so she physically turned his head back to the scene in front of him. He wondered what he had missed while he wasn't paying attention. A firm smack on the back of his head with the file she had been carrying put that thought out of his mind all together.

"Sirius, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Hermione asked as she took her own chair.

"I kept an eye on things after I was gone." The Sirius wanna-be replied softly now looking at the table instead of Hermione. Well at least that was an improvement. "I saw what happened. I knew you would be arriving soon. I just had to come and see you kiddo. Even if you never want to talk to me again I had to tell you I was sorry."

"Oh Sirius, there's nothing for you to apologize for. You didn't know. Harry's just like that I guess." Hermione had placed her hand over the man's while she spoke. Harry frowned.

"Sirius Orion Black! How dare you sneak in here and wonder about! Do you know what will happen if you get caught?" Harry looked over at the door of the room to see what resembled his parents.

"Yes Harry. Those ARE your parents. You REALLY are dead." The woman by his side said before he could yell about someone impersonating them. He wanted so much to yell at her that if he were really dead then HIS parents would be visiting HIM; NOT Hermione! Though he tried to yell he just couldn't get his mouth to open or his throat to produce a sound.

"I told you, unless you're going to say something smart or interesting you're not allowed to talk at all right now. Pay attention." He decided to ignore the woman and focus on the scene in front of him.

"Hermione, may I call you Hermione?" The Lilly look-alike asked. Upon receiving a nod in reply she continued. "I just wanted to say" Hermione had apparently had a clue where this was going because she cut the woman off.

"Please Mrs. Potter, don't apologize to me. I know what happened. Honestly I don't blame you or your husband, or Sirius. None of you are responsible for what happened. If truth were to be told he was lied, to abused, manipulated, and just all around ill-used. Those people hold a share of the blame; the ones who did this to him. Hell, even HE holds a share of the blame, I'm sure I do as well. However you three do not. All you had ever done was love him. You did what you could and that is all any of us can ever do. Harry was lucky to have you, all of you, for as much time as he did." Hermione had stood up and was looking fierce as she replied to the red headed woman. Harry couldn't remember her ever getting that look on her face and it NOT leading towards violence.

The wall between the rooms was suddenly gone and though Harry couldn't get up to go greet them the woman beside of him didn't seem to have that problem.

"I couldn't agree more! Honestly you three have been moping so much its becoming detrimental to the Elysian Fields! As for you, Sweetie, brace yourself, I know you're not all about hugging. I can't help it though, you NEED to be hugged for a bit." The woman had walked over and shut the door as she spoke and it seemed that every eye followed her as she moved around. She had turned towards Hermione and waited for her to nod before sweeping his best friend into her arms and stroking her hair. "You poor, poor child, it's ok to cry." She held Hermione as she cried. Harry wasn't sure if he was upset because she was crying or because some woman he didn't know had a hold of her while she did so.

The people who looked like his parents took seats next to the wanna-be Sirius. No one seemed to pay any attention to the fact Harry was still stuck and silent on his chair. The dark haired woman just held Hermione until she was merely sniffling rather than sobbing as if her heart was shattered into dust. She then gave Hermione a tissue that seemed to immediately clear up the after effects of all that sobbing. She then led Hermione back to the head of the table and helped her sit down.

"Well as you guessed, Sweetie, you're dead. This is the place where you would NORMALY be assigned on to your afterlife. However your case is a bit different than most." The door opened again and Harry watched another woman come into the room she had light brown hair and was wearing a dark blue dress with bronze knot work on it. "Rowena, you're late, again." Harry looked back and forth between the lady beside Hermione and the newcomer.

Hermione didn't hesitate for a moment. She stood quickly and swept into a deep curtsy. Since when could she curtsy? The new lady looked at Hermione and smiled before going over to her. Harry wanted to get up and keep anyone else from approaching Hermione. The poor girl was obviously out of it if she was letting all of these people near her. His Hermione was standoffish and didn't like being near a lot of people.

"Please rise Your Grace. I would not have you pay court to your own grandmother no matter how many times removed." She helped Hermione settle back into the chair before taking her seat to Hermione's right. The table seemed to shrink leaving two places to Hermione's right before the table ended the woman that had been in the small room with Harry took the seat at the foot of the table.

"Well, now that we are ALL here, I'll introduce everyone." Harry found himself moved to the seat across from his father sitting near the end of the table by the dark haired woman. He still couldn't move on his own or talk. "Hermione of course is sitting at the head of the table to her left is Sirius Black, next to him is Lilly Potter, who is sitting next to her husband, James. To Hermione's right is Rowena Ravenclaw an empty seat for anyone else we may need to summon and then Harry. I am Persephone, I'm THE goddess not named for her. Got it?"

Harry had a bad feeling about this. If that woman was right then he was really dead. That meant he had really killed Hermione, and he had two kids that were going to have to grow up without their daddy.

"Okay, down to business. Normally I wouldn't be the one doing this but since my father decided to snag my husband and the fate of the world literally rests upon Harry and Hermione, you get to deal with me. Harry died by doing one of the worst things I can personally imagine. He killed his soul-mate, Hermione. That naturally had the effect of killing him as soon as her soul was gone from the realm of the living."

A/N: a few things to point out: I'm not British, so I doubt I'll get the slang right. My story DOES mention royalty and I will do my best to get the ranks and all their little quarks right but I doubt that will actually happen. The current queen of the real England isn't in my story so I will have room to mess around with the family lines. Harry had actually married sb/ha/ll/gw/dg before dyeing however once he gets together with Hermione he is no longer with them. He will NOT be having a harem that she's in or head of. Thanks for the reviews


	3. Explanations Begin

The Raven Lilly: Chapter 2 Explanations Begin

Before anyone could say anything to that, the goddess forged ahead. "Harry and Hermione WERE soul mates. Before anyone starts the seven billion questions I know that at least the ladies have, allow me to explain a bit on how this ACTUALLY works. Everyone goes down to earth and while they are down there they live, laugh, love. Once in a while there are people who the gods need to be together to do something big, those people are normally shot by Cupid so they will feel the first bit of love towards one another. The arrows are also tipped with a solution that makes them more understanding towards one another and quicker to resolve their differences. However every once in a GREAT while there is a need for two people to intervene in a major way; one that will help the world get back some of the balance it has lost and to help them out Psyche creates a bond between them. She does this to allow them to communicate easier, live longer, heal more damage, and read each other's emotions because let's face it; your less likely to hurt someone if you can feel their pain. That is what is meant when we say soul mates around here.

They are a BIG deal because they happen so rarely. When soul mates in the Wizarding World touch for the first time they considered bonded for life, one touch and instant marriage. The reason for this is because once soul mates touch their auras merge. They can NEVER be effectively bonded to anyone else." Persephone paused waiting on the reactions of the table before her.

"But Harry was married! Like 5 times!" James blurted out looking at the goddess. Lilly just waited to see the answer of her husband's question while Sirius just picked up Hermione's hand. Hermione sat as still as a statue, while Harry's eyes started to resemble dinner plates. Rowena just sat impassively.

"No, he wasn't." Sirius, Lilly and James burst out into loud protests as they had seen the bondings in the reflective pools in the Elysian Fields. Persephone glared and they found themselves unable to speak. "As I was saying, Harry wasn't married. The ceremony was a complete and total sham. However we are getting ahead of ourselves. So lets rewind a tad bit, shall we?

Harry and Hermione are different even as soul mates go. Their bond actually started the night that Thomas Riddle Jr. attacked the Potters. Harry could have never rebound the curse on Thomas if he hadn't been able to pull magic from Hermione. His soul knew there was a piece missing so it was able to locate it and draw a lot of magic from the missing piece, which caused the curse to rebound upon Thomas. This prevented Harry from becoming one of those foul pieces of magic known as a horcrux. Your soul may only be tied to one person at a time and even if he had become one of those abominations the first time he touched Hermione in any way the other soul would be forced out.

However Harry pulled enough magic from Hermione that she only once displayed any accidental magic afterwards in her 11th year. It was this magic that was detected causing her to only then show up on the radar of the Ministry of Magic and her invitation to Hogworts issued. Harry's soul kept itself lightly attached to Hermione's and pulled on it whenever he had need of it. Which helped Harry continue preforming the magic which the Ministry detected, and heal from the abuse of his relatives."

"Pardon me Madame but are you saying our soul bond has been in effect since I was two?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Yes, Hermione, the soul bond was ALWAYS in effect. Which is why the suspicions you had about Harry being under love potions is wrong. You can't drug a person that has a soul bond with a love potion. It wouldn't work. My God-mother could explain it all to you; however please just take my word for it she babbles when she's excited and she gets excited about people who like to learn about magic. However a three or four hour lecture on why love potions don't work in this case would just give me a migraine and I really want to avoid getting cranky." Hermione nodded at the goddess though she would really like to talk to that woman one day.

"However you were right in the fact that Harry isn't ENTIRELY at fault here. I know your childhood was… well, what it was. However Harry's had a severe effect upon his emoational growth so he never managed to figure out some basic things. Of course, that awful Headmaster you had didn't help things either. He played round with that darn memory charm enough that honestly I was surprised Harry's brain wasn't swiss cheese. Back on topic though! Most of the girls Harry was 'married' honestly didn't want that life that they wound up in."

Persephone watched Harry's facial expressions out of the corner of her eye but she was mostly focused on Hermione. If she couldn't get Hermione to agree with this before dad got back with Hades she would never get her plan in place. Thank the Fates that the time in the Underworld when as slow or as fast as she wished when she was here!

"Susan Bones was contracted while her guardianship was in flux in the days after her parents died. They died in late October, however, her aunt was unable to get custody until early November. By then it was too late for her to nullify the contract without permission from Harry's magical guardian. She grew up and fell in love with Hannah Abbot. The only thing that Amelia Bones could do for Susan was to insure that Hannah was also contracted to Harry. Doing so would allow Susan and Hannah to be together without it being adultery and the spells preventing adultery triggering. Luna Lovegood was contracted while her father was on a drinking binge after the death of her mother. Luna was fated to go to Delphi and work as an Oracle. The fact that she was prevented by the contract to go that far away from Harry for years prevented her from learning how to use her gifts allowing her second sight to overwhelm her causing her to be largely disconnected from reality. I'm not sure the poor child even knows she IS married."

Persephone stopped for a moment noticing the pain in Harry's eyes. She knew it hurt him to know he was the cause of pain for his friends, let alone the women he considered his wives and his soul mate. If this worked though it would fix most of that pain. She forged ahead knowing the worst was yet to come.

"Daphne was contracted just after Thomas died. Her family was desperate to prove that they were not deserving of prison time and having their daughter contracted to Harry looked VERY good for them. She had been raised knowing about the contract so she ignored her heart when she fell in love with" Persephone paused to check her folder. "Blasie Zambini. That just leaves Ginny Weasley. Ginerva like Daphne knew of the contract. More to the point the Weasleys were always after a fortune and Albus Dumbledore was happy to provide them with one as long as they were willing to sacrifice their daughter, and insure that their youngest son was the friend of the boy-who-lived. Albus made sure to contract one pure-blood wife for each line he knew that Harry would inherit.

"The Gryffindor and Potter lines came from James Potter. The Evans line came via Lilly. Slytherin came to Harry with the defeat of Thomas. When Sirius died leaving Harry the title of Black as well, Albus allowed Amelia to approach the Abbots and work out a contract for Hannah. You see Albus never wanted Harry to be able to choose anything about his life, not his friends and certainly not a wife. He wanted no room for Harry to grow in ways that would allow him to be independent. By keeping Harry with the Dursleys before school and then providing an instant family he hoped that Harry would love the magical world enough to do exactly what he was told with out questioning the 'Great Albus Dumbledore' or ever thinking for himself." Persephone paused a moment to allow them to all soak this in before moving on.

"Ma'am? " Harry asked surprising most of the room. "Why is everyone here? I mean shouldn't this just be Hermione and I?"

"Good Harry!" Persephone reached over and patted him on the head. "I knew you would start trying to ask a smart question eventually! There is indeed a reason to have them all here. Lilly and James are your parents and Sirius was the only father figure you can remember. Rowena is Hermione's grandmother a few generations back. They are all here because we have a BIG problem. Harry you were destined to save the world. However Thomas didn't die again with you. It's bad enough that Hermione is dead and her destiny unfulfilled, but to leave it leaderless and in the hands of a mad man? Well, that just doesn't bode well for the rest of existence. So to skip ahead, well a lot, you don't have to stay dead."

Harry took a moment to process this. "So you mean I can go back? I can defeat Voldemort and watch my children grow up? I'll do it!" Harry exclaimed.

"It's not quite that simple Harry. For this to work since your soul is bound with Hermione's you BOTH would have to go back. One of you would have to be a ghost though. It wouldn't necessarily be a confortable experience for the one who was a ghost either because they would have to keep coming between here and the one left in the world of the living. Both of you would have to return exactly one year from the time that you return to the world." Persephone watched Harry hoping he would understand this wasn't a great option but it was the only one she had available to her at this time.

"No." Everyone looked towards Hermione. Persephone was glad she had left a total silencing spell on the Potters and Sirius. Their expressions plainly said they couldn't believe she didn't want to back to the world of the living.

"Hermione, I understand I was a jerk in a major way but can you honestly say you would want to leave the world in the hands of Voldemort? What about your parents?" Harry was all set to go on asking how Hermione could stand to think of not going back when he found himself unable to say anything more. He realized then he must have said something wrong. He kept staring at Hermione growing concerned as he realized her pale skin was looking chalky. Rowena must have had a clue of what was going on because she simply stood up helping Hermione to stand and escorted her out the door without another word.

Everyone but Persephone kept their eyes on the door waiting for Hermione to come back. They couldn't believe that she had just walked out on a meeting with a goddess. They could understand the rest of them but to walk out on a goddess didn't seem like something Hermione would typically do.

Persephone sighed holding her head in her hands. "You had been doing so well Harry. You had finally started thinking again! Then to ask her that?" the goddess sighed deeply again. "Okay everyone, look at her chair please." They all turned to look at the chair Hermione had inhabited, only to find blood staining the back of the crème color chair. "Should your soul mate kill you the wound takes a VERY long time to heal, even when it does it will always leave behind a scar."

Persephone snapped her fingers and Harry found he oculd move about again even if he still couldn't talk. "Look at your hands Harry." Harry's hands seemed to move of their own violation to the table top and found his hands were stained with blood. "You will bear the blood of your soul mate until the day you manage to earn her forgiveness. You should be familiar with this happening after all there is a ghost in your school that has a similar story. Marcus Foxe more commonly known as the Bloody Baron, is still covered with the blood of his soul mate Helena Ravenclaw."

Rowena must have quietly slipped into the room. "She's resting in your sitting room Persephone. However may I point out that Harry hasn't had all of his magic or mind unbound for very long? He also seems to be under the impression that she has had a perfect life. Or at least that's my guess; after all I have watched her since her birth and cannot recall one instance of his asking about her home life or life before school."

"Should we wait for her to tell him about her life Rowena? She already knew all about what happened to Harry, so it didn't make any sense to avoid speaking of it in her presence. Humans get so twitchy when about things like this."

A/N thanks to the reviewers thus far I appreciate the comments and constructive critism is always more than welcome


	4. Discussions and a Memory

Chapter 3 Discussions and a Memory

Persephone had waved her hand and everyone was standing in the center of a small living room. Deep plum walls and black leather couches made this room seem oddly cozy. Curled up on a couch near the fireplace was Hermione, there was a light lavender throw covering her up as she dozed.

Harry walked over towards the couch where Hermione was resting before he could wake her though; Sirius snagged his arm yanking him through the room and over to the far corner next to the door. "Sit down Harry, your father and I want to talk to you a moment."

Harry sat down next to his father on the couch. He wasn't sure exactly what they were going to say but he knew it wouldn't be good. He had made so many mistakes, he was also fairly sure he didn't know all of them yet.

"Harry, son, I know you're having a hard time right now. Learning what you have thus far must have hurt terribly. There's more to come, Harry. It will get worse before it gets better. I want you to keep in mind that it WILL get better though." James kept his eyes on his son. He wasn't sure that he was the best candidate to have this conversation with Harry. Lilly and Rowena would have been better in his opinion.

Sirius chimed in drawling Harry's attention to him as he sat on the floor in front of them. "You understand Persephone is a goddess right?" Sirius waited for Harry to nod before continuing. "She's a goddess of change, of life and death and as such she can grant you this chance as long as it's done before Hades comes back. Hades is the main god of the underworld and he hates for anyone to enter and then be able to leave again. She is hoping to send you back in time, eventually."

"Wait a minute! She can send me back in time? Why not just do that now?" Harry couldn't contain the hope in his expression. There had been so many lives lost in the battles of the war; the last battle at Hogworts had taken out most of the Order members and DA members left.

"No Harry, she can't, not yet anyway. She managed to check out the Tapestry of the Fates. Even sending you back for a year which is pretty much what she's limited to without getting in trouble with, well, whoever it is that goddesses get in trouble with, won't be enough to bring back balance to the world. To truly bring back balance she would have to be able to send you back much farther. However she needs permission to do so. She needs you to prove to them, whoever them is, that you can do this."

"You and Hermione were both hurt, Harry." Harry suddenly felt like he was back with the Weasley twins, James and Sirius were taking turns talking, though thankfully they weren't alternating sentences. "Rowena wouldn't tell us much about what Hermione has been through but we do know her father died when she was a baby, and that her mother died when she was five. Her mother's second husband was a problem. Exactly what kind of a problem I don't know. When Rowena mentioned him she starting ranting in some langue I have never heard before."

"Is that what I said wrong? When I mentioned her parents? I mean, I knew I said something wrong I just wasn't sure exactly what it was." Harry interrupted. He was glad someone was actually trying to talk things over with him. Things were very confusing in his head right now. He had memories he had no recollection of having, and adding that to this situation he was just plain scared. He looked down at his hands, staring at the blood left on them. Had he done the right thing? He had killed his soul mate, his best friend.

~*~*~*~Memory~*~*~*~

The last battle with Voldemort at Hogworts had been pretty much a last stand for the side of light. There had only been 150 left on their side when it had started. The death eaters completely out numbered them. Ginny and Daphne were pregnant and couldn't fight. Susan and Hanna had been busy helping Madame Pomfrey. Luna was trying to console the few small children that were there, although they weren't interested in hearing about Nerla the Nargle.

They had never considered that Voldemort was able to enter the castle whenever he wanted to. They thought they had been secure and would be able to pick them off from the high ground. The Death Eaters had apparently followed him up from the chamber of secrets and swept through the castle leaving injured and dead in their wake. Madame Pomfrey and the girls had been locked in the hospital wing trying to insure they had everything ready in case of an attack. It was one of the few places the Death Eaters didn't enter.

All of the sentinels along the castle walls were quickly dispatched it was only when they entered the courtyard near the transfiguration class room that any fight was given. It had been pure luck hat had allowed the small band to defeat those sent in that direction. Not long after the last Death Eater had fallen they heard Voldemort shouting for Harry to come out.

Harry and Hermione had moved over to the where the outside wall had once been. They saw the ruins of Hagrid's hut and near there they saw several Death Eaters holding students tightly against them. When Harry didn't come out Voldemort had the first death eater slash the throat of the first student letting the body crumple in the grass. He called out to Harry once again before nodding at the second death eater.

"Are you watching Potter? " Voldemort asked, Harry noticed for the first time that Voldemort was actually using his wand to make his voice carry not yelling. Voldemort nodded at the third; and another student was killed. "You have one hour to deal with your dead and surrender yourself Potter! " Voldemort then removed his wand from his throat motioning his minions back towards the forest where it seemed they had made camp for the assault.

When Harry looked over at the small band he had been fighting with he found Hermione pulling off her black jacket and using it to try and stem the flow of blood from Neville's abdomen. He quickly told everyone else to try and find all the hurt and the dead and bring them here. He knew Hermione would have some kind of wards laid by the time everyone was assembled so that there wasn't such an obvious weakness in the defenses of the castle. Harry then strode quickly to find his wives. When he got to the hospital wing he was hugged by all of his ladies.

That first hour went by so quickly. They were still moving everyone in the courtyard to allow for the healers to move between the bodies easier, and those who were capable not to have to split their defenses. He never noticed that the time was up until Voldemort had called out again.

"Harry Potter since you refuse to hand yourself over these deaths are on your head!" Harry walked over to the hole in the wall and watched as three students were quickly killed. "If you surrender yourself, Potter, I will spare those left alive in the castle." As Voldemort spoke several Death Eaters stepped out from beneath the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Harry felt faint at the numbers they would be facing. He looked over at his wives remembering that two of them were pregnant. His life for theirs, there was no contest.

"Since you didn't surrender the first time though, you will have to bring me a sacrifice. Think Potter, your death and a death of a person that you value highly for the lives of all your little friends left alive. You have one hour to gather up the bodies and say goodbye before I kill the last of these pathetic children and destroy the castle." With that Voldemort and his minions melted back into the trees.

~*~*~*~ Memory Ends~*~*~*~

"Harry?" Rowena had come over to them at some point. She looked a bit concerned. Hmm come to think of it so did his father and Sirius.

"Sorry, just thinking of where I went wrong." Harry answered softly. "I'm just not sure that I know exactly what I've done right and wrong anymore. I've been fighting as long as I can remember. If it wasn't fighting my relatives to survive, it was fighting to be normal, or fighting Voldemort to protect a world that WANTED to be ignorant. Hermione just got lost in the shuffle, I guess. I'm not sure that I was a very good friend; let alone a good soul mate." Harry looked up at Rowena with tears in his eyes. He had honestly never meant to hurt anyone; he just didn't know what he should have done. Now they were talking about him being able to prove that he could handle going back to fix things before they got quite so screwed up; he just wasn't sure that he could handle it. If he knew what he had done wrong he wouldn't have done it in the first place.

"Harry, I wish you could have all the time that you and Hermione need to deal with things and decide if and how you want to proceed. I'm afraid that isn't possible though. Persephone can only stretch the time here to a certain extent before the other gods notice it. You must go back in within three days from your death if you're going to be able to go with her plan at all." Rowena put her hand on Harry's shoulder taking the seat on the other side of him. "As for Hermione, well she's a smart girl Harry. She understands more than you know, but that doesn't mean she isn't hurt. She's got issues from before you knew her just like you do; which you both are going to have to be deal with eventually. Your issues and hers just to be clear, there's a lot of pain there neither of you has completely moved on from. However, she also has had to feel every touch you experienced with the women you slept with. That hurt her Harry. I know you didn't realize you were hurting her but it did. Eventually that has to be dealt with." Rowena hoped she was making the right decision. Hermione didn't trust many people; she would need people to be there for her no matter who went back to the world of the living; assuming one of them did at all. She hoped Harry would realize that he had to go slow with Hermione.

"Why are you here Rowena? Why not Hermione's mother, or her father? Not that I don't like you or anything; but everyone else makes sense to me. Sirius was the only father figure I knew, Mom and Dad are well, my parents. I would naturally want to see them." Harry wasn't sure how far he would be able to probe before he was shut out; but he wanted to know something! After all any insight into Hermione right now would be a good thing.

"Hermione's father, Richard, was of my line. He married, as is tradition of all Ravenclaws, the woman he was betrothed to, Lorna. When he died he was leaving her. He had packed some of his clothes and got in his car and drove off; only to crash in the rain not half an hour later. When Lorna remarried, she did it on the rebound barely knowing the guy at all. By the time Hermione was 2 he had developed a major drinking problem. Instead of allowing the security people to do their jobs she allowed them to be dismissed from the house.

"John was a violent man, Harry. Lorna lost herself in the medicine she would get from her many visits to the doctor after the beatings he would give her. She died of an overdose when Hermione was only five. Lorna's will had plainly stated that Hermione was to go to John. He hated Hermione. Hermione had money; he couldn't touch it because it was locked in trusts until she came of age. Hermione had power; if she had understood he was wrong to hurt her and told her mother's relatives he would have been lucky to be in jail and not dead. She was a Duchess as a small child; he had no title. They had to move out of the large house they had been living in because the house had belonged to Hermione; he was scared that he wouldn't be able to get rid of the guards her grandmother had wanted her to have if he kept living there."

"Wait sec, guards? Duchess? Dear gods is she a princess too?" Harry couldn't believe that he didn't know this stuff about his best friend. Just because he had never wanted to tell anyone about his life before school didn't mean that she couldn't tell him!

"No, she's not a princess, not technically, though she IS in line for the throne. Her great-grandmother is the current Queen of England. Her god-father is her great-uncle, the Crown Prince. That's who she wanted her jewelry to go to, by the way. The bracelet is traditionally passed through the Duchesses of Ravenclaw, it's a maternal title. She was the last of my line. She gained the bracelet from her father's great-grandmother. Rayla had been the last witch in the line before Hermione; she died just before Hermione entered Hogworts, which is when the bracelet was passed to her. The necklace carried the crest of the royal family." Harry was shocked. He looked quickly at his father and Sirius, both of whom looked a bit confounded as well. At least he wasn't the only one who this was news to. Honestly, being dead wasn't as big of a shock as this!

His soul mate was bloody royalty! How on earth could she have managed to lead such a harsh life if she was royalty? Did they overlook her too? Harry's musings were cut short when Hermione sat up. He darted over to her side before anyone could stop him.

"Hermione, can we talk please?" Harry asked softly. He didn't want to pressure her into talking with him but he really needed to speak with her. Even if it was only to give her a chance to yell at him; it wasn't like he wouldn't deserve it after all. Harry looked around and noticed that everyone had gathered by the couch he had just left. He hoped that would allow them some privacy.

"What did you need Harry?" Hermione asked staring at the fireplace.

"I wanted to tell you how sorry I was Hermione." Before Harry could go on Hermione interrupted him.

"Don't please don't, I'm not ready to hear that yet. I still need some time to process this before we talk about that." She had turned to face him. Her brown eyes were pleading with him. He didn't think he could deny her anything when she had that expression on her face.

"Alright, we don't have to talk about that now. Just promise me that when you're ready to talk you will let me know. I don't want to mess this up by not knowing when we should talk; alright?" Harry smiled as she nodded at him. "So what do you think about this whole return to the living deal?"

"I'm not really sure, but I know if we do agree to do it I don't want to be the one who has to go back. You have more to go back to. After all you're not only the Boy-Who-Came-Back-From-The-Dead-Again, but you also have kids coming. You should be able to at least see them be born."

"Actually only one of those kids belongs to Harry." Persephone walked back over to them. She grabbed Hermione's arm dragging her over to where the others were sitting. Harry was oddly glad when Hermione snagged his arm as she was being pulled away. Maybe he hadn't completely screwed it all up then.

A/N hope this chapter manages to clear up a few questions thanks for the reviews thus far


	5. The Rollercoaster Continues

The Rollercoaster Continues

Harry watched as Hermione settled down on the sofa across from his parents. She looked so pale anyway, but against the black leather she looked ill. He dropped her hand and grabbed the blanket she had been using near the fireplace. It was strange to feel every eye in the room on him as he placed it over her lap and took the seat next to her. Risking a glance up at Hermione he noticed she looked rather surprised and slightly pleased. Maybe there was hope for him yet, after all he would have sworn fairly recently she would never look at him with anything other than distain again.

"That was sweet Harry. Now on to the never ending soap opera that is your life! Or rather was your life, hmm the correct tense in these situations always escapes me. Well simply put Ginny Weasley had an affair with Draco Malfoy. The child she is carrying is his not yours Harry, of course that will not stop her from claiming it is. Unless there is someone who would insist on a paternity test being done a Malfoy will become the legal heir of all but the Evans title. The Evans title would go to the son of Daphne Greengrass." Harry was surprised and disappointed that Ginny would go to a Malfoy of all people.

"But if they weren't really married then it wouldn't be valid, would it?" Lilly looked very upset at the thought that someone was cheating on her son, even in these circumstances.

"Without Harry or Hermione there they would begin to look into Harry's will. However Harry never bothered to make one, Hermione on the other hand made her first will when she was 12 years old. I just have to say good for thinking ahead dear but still a bit creepy! The other thing to note is that I said LEGAL heir. Not actual heir. Everything gets a little bit more complex when you look back at the records for Harry Potter, and even though the goblins don't really like Harry, they do pride themselves on a job well done." Before Persephone could go on James interrupted with another question.

"Why don't the goblins like Harry? I can't really recall him doing much of anything to or against the goblins." Persephone sighed; her irritation seemed to grow every time they interrupted her, Harry was glad that it wasn't him she was getting annoyed with now. He shot Hermione a quick look; he was pleased to find she was fighting off her own amusement.

"Well it's obvious that you didn't pay attention to history of magic. The Ravenclaws have been friends of the goblins for centuries; Rowena was noted for being treated like a member of goblin society before she was granted her title and the rule of the Wizarding World. She was even was said to be adopted by a goblin who had no children of his own; making her his heir and adopting her line into the goblin society. Given how much goblins prize family they would be twice as offended by Harry cheating on Hermione. Yes Harry, I know it wasn't something you set out to do, you had thought you were being a good and loyal husband. However the goblins wouldn't see it that way. Not only were you dishonoring a soul bond; which in and of its self is a reason for them to be short with you; but you also made vows of fidelity to five women none of whom were your wife. They would see that as empty promises that you knew you would never be able to keep. Then to top that all off you were disrespecting a woman they consider a goblin in most ways. There had been no less than 70 petitions from various goblins with whom the Ravenclaws had friendly relationships for your death." Lilly was obviously annoyed that James had not paid attention in school still. Harry couldn't believe that goblins wanted to kill him! Goblins of all things! A more warlike and bloodthirsty race he couldn't imagine; and they wanted his blood. This trip back was going to be shorter than anyone was expecting because he was toast the first time he set foot in Gringotts!

"Alright people, no more interrupting the goddess! I've a lot to get through and nowhere near enough time to get through it all. As I was saying Harry Potter was emancipated that October when his parents died, as was Hermione. Legally they could not force either of you to stay with those awful guardians you both had. The ministry of magic however rarely informs people of their rights." Persephone trailed off Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione.

She looked like someone had slapped her in the face. Harry could see how she would feel that way after all it hurt a lot to realize that he should have never been with the Dursleys; and Dumbledore had managed to insure he stayed there any way when he had no legal grounds. How much would it hurt more if everyone he knew ignored his pain? He had spent the past 2 years with five women who at least seemed to care about him. Then there was Hermione, she had always stayed with him and had understood his pain like no one else.

"I know this is hard to hear but you both MUST be informed of all the manipulations in your lives. Harry and Hermione were LEGALLY married and emancipated on October 31 1980. His first contract was with Ginny Weasley was done on November 1, 1980. This is why when they were "married" she took the name Potter. On November 2 Susan Bones became bride number two. She was eligible then to take the name Gryffindor when they "married". Bride three was Daphne Greengrass who was contracted on November 5; she would later take the name Evans. In 1989 Luna Lovegood was contracted shortly after her mother's death. She would be able to take the Slytherin name, however she never refers to herself even in her mind as anything other than a Lovegood. In August of 1995 Hannah Abbot would be contracted making her eligible for the Black name.

"By taking one bride for each line Harry would have intended to separate the titles with a child for each. However should he die, and not return, the titles would go to the oldest son besides the title for the line the other son was born into. Other than the wealth for that specific family, everything would go back to the main line. However that tends to work only in cases where the legal heirs are legitimate. With me so far?" Persephone paused long enough for everyone to nod, and to grace Harry with a smile when she noticed he still had his arm around Hermione.

"When the goblins execute Hermione's will they will of course look into Harry's married status. Upon finding that they were all illegal bindings that have not even a trace of magic protecting them, there would be a dispute on which the rightful heir would be. Upon executing Hermione's will there is no option but to declare both children illegitimate. They would then have to file for any right to the estate. However, while Harry had no will, Hermione's is iron clad. The property from her side of the family is extensive and very well documented. Harry's needs a lot of work to figure out what is where and what condition it is in. Ginny would fight to gain all the property and titles involved. Not that she can legally touch anything of Hermione's but she would try. Daphne, on the other hand, would petition for child support and then attempt to woo back Blaise.

"As it stands right now Harry's legal Heir is Hermione. However as they died so close together it could be argued that she was still barely alive at that point in time making her his heir, which then would add his estate to hers which would be divided according to her will. The goblins would argue this version of events to keep the money out of the hands of Ginny.

"After all her family has taken out 45,000 galleons a year from your vault, as per their contract with you stipulate. For those who aren't great in math that would be equal to 225,000 pounds or 453,150 dollars every year since 1980. The total amount taken would be roughly 810,000 galleon or 4,050,000 pounds or 8,156,700 dollars." Persephone paused again, Harry was stunned. He had loved the Weasleys dearly, thought of them as family; and they had stolen from him for years?

Had Harry not already been married it wouldn't have been theft; merely a very unhappy thing about the contract. However, the contract was illegal and unenforceable thus making the withdrawals the same. Harry was stunned out of his thoughts when Hermione hugged him lightly. Even when she was hurt and upset, she cared about him. Even if the Weasleys didn't care, even if his "wives" didn't want to be married to him, even if she had been hurt beyond darn near any sort of redemption, Hermione cared. That was enough to warm his heart on the loneliest of occasions.

"You should also know that Albus tried for years to contract Hermione to Ron. It would not go through, however. The goblins take care of their own; they managed to insure that every paper that had to do with Hermione had to run through Gringotts. Had they known of Harry's soul bond before the first contract was filed it would have never been allowed. Had it been discovered before his clinging loyalty to the Weasley family they could have all been negated. Even though they were unenforceable, Harry still went through with the spirit of the contracts if not the law. That makes things a little more complex. As far as the magical community was concerned Hermione was a ward of the bank."

Harry didn't know how much more he could take. Had he but known any of this his life would have been so much different. He had to go back! He had to find a way to make it up to her. His life had effected so many people; had he known what was going on would the world have ended up in this insane war?

"You said that one of us would be a ghost if I choose to back. Does that mean that Hermione can go back and I can be a ghost or is it only me that would have the option to go back?" Harry couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she wanted to go back and say goodbye to those she loved.

"Very good question Harry! Either of you could go back, leaving one of you as a ghost to bounce between the worlds. However, I recommend that you go back Harry." Persephone seemed pleased that he had been considering it. The question was would Hermione want to have either of them go back.

"Harry should go." Everyone looked quickly at Hermione. She had been so quiet through this entire ordeal, that it was slightly startling to hear her speak firmly. "Not only does he have a child to deal with; and one to disown, but there is the issue of the others he left behind." Her voice cracked lightly as she mentioned his other ladies. Harry resolved that if he managed to go back he would find a way to off Voldemort as quickly as he could but he would also deal with the girls very soon too. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Persephone has mentioned a plan that would allow an option to go back and prevent all the needless deaths. As far as I know gods don't involve themselves like that unless there is the fate of the world in the balance. Which means even if you go back and Voldemort gets dealt with something still isn't right. For her to send you back Harry, you would have to prove to whomever that you can handle it. This would be a good chance for you to start doing that."

She gazed at her hands for a moment before continuing. "Besides, I'm not ready to go back. There are things I need to deal with. I wouldn't be able to with things being the way they would be if I were the one who went back." She never raised her gaze from her hands but Harry knew that she was nearly ready to cry. Hermione had always hated to admit she had a weakness; he was starting to understand why that was.

"So you'll do it then, Harry? You'll go back and try to put things as right as you can?" Persephone looked very hopeful but Harry's eyes kept going back to Hermione she looked so alone there. This would be very hard on her.

"As a ghost would muggles be able to see her? If I were the one who went back would muggles be able to see Hermione? Could she make her peace that way?" Harry knew that she had a lot of issues, heck it wasn't as if he didn't have any, but he had been working on his since he was eleven. Hermione had insured that he was working on most of his issues over time. It was time he helped her with hers.

"Yes, like any regular ghost she could be seen by muggles if she wanted to. However unlike regular ghosts she won't be seen by those who are magical if she doesn't want them to see her."

"Do you want this? If you don't want to Hermione we don't have to do this."

"Harry, Hermione, before you commit to a plan, you should know something." Lilly was getting ponderous stares from everyone but Persephone and Rowena. The latter two were glaring at Lilly as if she was responsible for every foul thing that had ever happened. "There's another option. It's not a great one, but it exists. You could go back for this year or not but either way, now or a year from now you could choose to break the bond. The murder of a soul mate is grounds for breaking the bond."

Harry felt ill. There was a chance that Hermione could leave him. He had never thought she could leave him! NEVER! Even when he was trying to let her only be his best friend he could never consider life without her. If his blood still had been pumping in a physical body he was sure the sound of it would have been pounding in his ears. As it was the silence was deafening. He could not believe that his mother would tell Hermione that she had the option of leaving him.

"Thank you Mrs. Potter. It was very kind of you to ensure that we knew all of the options. However I'm not certain that option would be beneficial to either of us. We have a lot of things to work out true, but there is love underneath it all. At least there is if I understand this whole soul mate thing. What kind of love? I have no clue if it still exists or not, or even what kind of love it is or ever was. However I do recall it being there. We need time to try and see what we can salvage from our relationship. It will be a long process but I am fairly sure that we can salvage something." Harry felt like he could breathe again. She wasn't giving up! "Time is the one thing we don't have though. If we miss this opportunity we have committed ourselves to a course of action that seems very unwise. Harry would have a year to try and fix the way he would be leaving his life; and to try to fix the world. I have no clue what I would be doing but from what I understand I would be spending at least half that time with him. I'm sure we could find some time to talk in there."

"Great! I can't tell you how glad I am that we will have two days to plan before you get sent back." Persephone looked so relieved. Harry wondered if she had expected them to be a harder sell. "Honestly it's this pesky free will thing. I tell you it's the worst invention ever!"

Later that evening Harry was sitting in a small living room of a suite that he was sharing with Hermione. They had all been dismissed and sent to get some rest before the planning continued the next day. He was very grateful for the break, all the information that he had been given lately needed time to settle into his brain. Then there WAS his brain, his mind had been messed with. Not only had some of his memories been erased but he had been spelled to insure that he wouldn't become too intelligent. That part was just wrong on so many levels.

Looking back now it was easy for Harry to see where some of the problems were. He had never asked enough questions, always allowed his attention to be distracted from those who were really important to him, and trusted too easily. He knew that knowing the problems wouldn't necessarily make things better with Hermione.

That was another thing, since he had died and showed up here he hardly spent any time without thinking about her. He remembered thinking of most other things besides Hermione before he had died. Did knowing that they were soul mates change the way he was thinking about her? Or had anything really changed at all?

He had always wanted to know where she was, before. He had always ensured that everyone knew she was off limits at school. It bothered him when she was at the library to the point that he would often go in and spy around the cases to make sure that she was really there. After he had gained his father's map he had always kept it on him checking periodically to check she was where she was supposed to be, and who she was with. Ginny and Ron had always told him that he was just being brotherly.

He had believed them. No matter what Dumbledore and the Weasleys had said, Harry had believed them. He trusted them. While he had been trying to figure out what was going on and to make sense of this whole new world he was entering they were busy playing with his mind. Hermione's actions made a lot more sense now. Why she would push herself to help Ron more than Harry. After all Harry had been friendly with Hermione in the library and walking about on the grounds, only to forget he knew much of anything about her as soon as he saw the Weasleys or Dumbledore. She must have felt he was ashamed of her. That couldn't be more wrong but he just couldn't remember all the times she had stayed up all night with him in the common room helping him with his nightmares, holding him as he cried over the abuse of the Dursleys.

He honestly had wondered why the pain of being sent back there and being stuck with them in the first place, always faded. It made sense now; he hadn't had to shoulder the burden alone. He had opened up to her. She had begged him to go to a teacher; he just had never done so. It must have made it even harder on her thinking that he thought it was useless to get help. Was that why she hadn't done so? Or had she done so and he never knew about it?

Even trying to think about the memories he had lost let him get distracted with Hermione. Harry couldn't help but sigh. Was this what he was supposed to feel? Was this obsession healthy? He would never want to smoother her; however he couldn't help the urge to go and sit by her bed as she slept. Somehow he thought that would help him relax. "Just great Harry, you're turning into a stalker!" he muttered.

"Really? Who are you stalking?" Harry turned to find his mother had walked over to him. He must have been really lost in his thoughts he had never heard the door open at all. Harry couldn't answer her. After all, how does one tell their mother they weren't sure if they were stalking their soul mate or not, and if they were it had been happening for since Halloween of their first year at school. "Judging by your silence I would guess you're stalking Hermione. Am I right?"

Harry didn't answer her; choosing instead to stare down at the marble floor. The rooms here were quite lovely. Where exactly where they anyway? Perhaps that would be a subject that would keep his mother from prying further.

"Harry, look at me." Lilly had sat down beside of him and gently turned his head to face her. "You are so like your father. I'm convinced that stalking one's love interest is a Potter trait. Were you aware he had been 'stalking' me since our first year at school?" harry couldn't have turned away now if he tried. His dad had done this too? He wasn't abnormal? "It wasn't until after we started going out that I had a moment's peace from him. It had seemed backwards to me at the time. It wasn't until years later that I finally understood. You see, your father had charmed a necklace he had given me to let him know how I was doing at any given moment. When you add that to the map they used, and the reassurance that I wasn't looking for anyone else he was finally able to relax and just be James.

"I know a lot of what you have heard while you were here has been about Hermione. However don't let yourself get caught up in the trap of not believing that you're worth everything to us. Sirius and James and I love you more than anything in the world. Not to mention that girl adores you." Harry's eyes grew wide as he stared at his mother. Could she be right? Could Hermione really care that much about him?

"I know that no one wanted me to mention that there was a chance to break the bond. To be honest with you I didn't want to mention it myself. I only knew about it by chance. However, I knew that if Hermione had found out later on she would have felt like everyone deceived her, even you. It would only help if we were up front with everything now, giving her some time to mull things over a bit. Besides, no matter what that girl still adores you." Lilly wrapped Harry in a hug gently stroking his hair as she held him. "Look at it this way Harry, if she never knew there was a choice and she stayed with you, when both of you found out wouldn't you wonder if she stayed because she couldn't leave? Now you'll never wonder because she's staying of her own free will." Harry did his best to focus on his mother's words; he had always wanted her to hold him though. It made it difficult to pay attention to her and not to just sit and savor being held by his mother. Had Lorna ever held Hermione this way?

"She could still leave mom. I could go back and do my best, but she could still leave when the year is over. I honestly don't think I could take it."

"Then make me want to stay Harry." Harry and Lilly both looked up to see Hermione leaning against the doorframe of her room. "Don't forget Harry, you could also decide to break the bond. It's not just me who has this decision to make." Harry started to get up to go to her when she shook her head. Hermione obviously didn't want to be held right now. He pulled the rest of the way out of his mother's arms to settle more firmly against the back of the chocolate leather couch. The random thought went through his mind that whoever had decorated this place they were staying in obviously liked leather.

A/N the currency amounts were figured out using the harry potter lexicon's Wizarding world currency creator

They list the basics as:

1 bronze Knut = £0.01 (US about 2 cents)

1 silver Sickle = £0.29 (about US$0.57)

1 Galleon = £5.00 (more or less US$9.75

Harry probably seems ooc in this chapter, however he now has a bunch of memories he didn't before, he also is starting to realize exactly how much he was manipulated. I realize that he's probably embraced his inner stalker just a tad too much, however given his home life and the feeling he has that he CAN count on Hermione I think it works. His memories may have been gone but the emotions remain. Then you add in the fact that from everything we know of James Potter he was creepily stalking and obsessed with Lilly Evans for years. Sorry about the wait on this chapter I'm working on making longer ones and it IS longer… probably not as long as it should be but it's a work in progress. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and the alerts I've received. As always hope you like this chapter and that it makes sense with the inheritance rules I've messed with.


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